Object Details

Title:

Artist/Maker(s):

Culture:

French

Place(s):

Paris, France (Place created)

Date:

1744 - 1750

Medium:

Silver

Markings:

Markings: Marked variously on the tureens, liners, lids, and stands with a crowned "D" (the warden's mark used between July 6, 1744, and November 27, 1745); a crowned "I" (the warden's mark used between July 18, 1749, and July 15, 1750); a crowned "K" (the warden's mark used between July 15, 1750, and January 22, 1751); an indistinct mark, possibly a crowned "A" (the charge mark used between October 4, 1738, and October 13, 1744, under the fermier Louis Robin); a crowned "A" (the charge mark used between October 13, 1744, and October 1, 1750, under the fermier Antoine Leschaudel); a hen's head (the discharge mark used on small silver objects between October 10, 1750, and October 13, 1756, under the fermier Julien Berthe); a boar's head (the discharge mark used on large silver objects between October 10, 1750, and October 13, 1756); and a laurel leaf (the countermark used between October 13, 1756, and November 22, 1762, under the fermier Eloy Brichard); and several obliterated marks.

Department:

Sculpture & Decorative Arts

Classification:

Decorative Arts

Object Type:

Tureen

Object Number:

82.DG.13

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This pair of large tureens with stands probably formed part of a sumptuous silver table service. Designed to hold a rich stew of meat or fish and vegetables, the lids reflect their original contents, which, according to a contemporary, "perfectly imitated nature." The small crabs, prawns, and crayfish were cast from wax molds of dead shellfish. The realism of such details appealed to patrons in the mid-1700s, some of whom were amateur scientists and collectors of natural curiosities.

The stands and liners are engraved with the arms of the British aristocrat Robert, first Lord Carrington. The arms were engraved in England late in the 1700s, effacing the heraldry of their original owner, a Portuguese archbishop. The cross of the Portuguese Order of Christ and the tassels of the archbishop's hat are still visible. They were left in place by an English silversmith who was probably unaware of their meaning.

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